As the world's population continues to increase, so does the demand for fresh water that is safe for consumption and the like. Despite many advances in water purification technology, many areas of the world are currently affected and will continue to be affected by a lack of this fundamental natural resource. Currently, many methods, such as reverse-osmosis, exist for the purification and desalination of water in order to produce potable and commercially appealing drinking products. Many of these processes suffer from the drawbacks of high production costs, resulting carbon emissions from the facilities in which they take place, and a significant level of waste water per volume of resulting potable water. As the demand for clean water increases, some methods have also been criticized for the strain they put on natural aquifers. In coastal regions with groundwater aquifers underlain by saline layers, concerns of saltwater encroachment exist where the over-burdening of freshwater aquifers creates a pressure differential that allows heavy concentrations of salt water to infiltrate the drinking supply.
Indeed, many areas in need of a reliable water supply do not have the availability of the resource itself to even reap the benefits of purification technologies. At the same time, however, a few specific regions of the Earth have abundant supplies of fresh, clean, and safe water which offer the potential to alleviate demands for water by utilizing the appropriate means for conveyance.
Devices and methods for transporting large volumes of water to distant regions of the Earth have proved costly and inefficient. For example, filtration, purification, and bottling of water for transportation and consumption have become a subject of scrutiny in recent years. In addition to the raw energy consumption required to produce clean water, it is estimated that at least twice the amount water is used in the production process than is actually bottled. In other words, one liter of bottled water may represent as much as three liters of water consumed. It has also been estimated that tens of millions of barrels of oil were required to generate the energy needed to produce the volume of bottled water consumed in the United States in 2007. Furthermore, the production and transportation costs of these methods are proving to be more and more taxing upon our planet's already strained natural resources.
Recent research has also revealed that one common method for transporting water and drinking liquids, containment via plastic bottles, poses a variety of health and environmental risks. It is estimated that approximately 70 million plastic bottles of water are consumed daily in the United States alone. In addition to the obvious strain that this puts on landfills and natural resources, many of these bottles may also contain Bisphenol (“BPA”) which may pose health risks to humans. Even bottles that do not contain BPA pose the risk of leaching other chemicals into the contained water or fluid. While bottled water is not without its benefits, it is often desirable to reduce the amount of bottles used or the duration which water or liquid is stored in the bottles.
Accordingly, a long felt but unsolved need exists for a method and system that can be economically employed to contain and convey pure and safe drinking water from various regions of the Earth to those having a need or demand for the same.